Br. Sourav

2018
Evolution of Human
Civilization and Changes in
the concept of Religion
Dissertation By Guided By
----------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------
(Br. Sourav (S)) (Sw. Tyagarupananda)
Probationer Training Center,

Ramakrishna Math, Belur
Math
Evolution of Human Civilization and Changes in the concept of Religion
Table of Content
Introduction ........................................................................................................... 2
Early Stage: ............................................................................................................ 5
Ancient Religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia ........................................................ 9
Religions of Ancient India..................................................................................... 11
Buddha, Mahavira and Confucius ........................................................................ 14
The Indian Senario ............................................................................................... 15
Change in religions of the west: Journey towards Monotheism ........................... 19
Jesus Christ and the Christianity .......................................................................... 21
The Reformation .................................................................................................. 25
Islam: ................................................................................................................... 28
Back to India: Shankara- Ramanuja ...................................................................... 30
Religion in the modern time ................................................................................ 39
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INTRODUCTION
When we start to study the development of human civilization, a very

important aspect comes to our observation is the role of religion. Very interestingly
from the mythical age some kind of worship is connected with human life, and
religion plays one of the greatest role in the evolution of the human society. But it is
not one sided effect. Religion has also gone many socio political economic changes
with time. Sometime the change was positive and at other times the change was
negative. What we get today as religion may not be perfect but the journey to
perfection is going on and the same can be told for the development of civilization
also. In the case of civilization, now a stage has arrived when all individual
civilization on the earth will come under a single umbrella and will be termed human
civilization. But such a thing like universal religion has not yet arrived. May be
some day, humans also become truly believing that every religion is equally true.
Here we shall try to find out the effects of the evolution of civilization on religions.
In course of that search one difference shall be found that the nature of
changes in India and rest of the world mainly Europe, is totally different. While in
India, religion has controlled the society, in Europe, it is society and politics which
controlled religion. The main reason behind that is the difference between the
thought process of the people of Europe and India. As Swami Vivekananda says-
“Two curious nations there have been — sprung of the same race, but placed in
different circumstances and environments; working out the problems of life each in
its own particular way. I mean the ancient Hindu and the ancient Greek. The Indian
Aryan — bounded on the north by the snow-caps of the Himalayas, with fresh-water
rivers like rolling oceans surrounding him in the plains, with eternal forests which,
to him, seemed to be the end of the world — turned his vision inward; and given the
natural instinct, the superfine brain of the Aryan, with this sublime scenery
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surrounding him, the natural result was that he became introspective. The analysis of
his own mind was the great theme of the Indo-Aryan. With the Greek, on the other
hand, who arrived at a part of the earth which was more beautiful than sublime, the
beautiful islands of the Grecian Archipelago, nature all around him generous yet
simple — his mind naturally went outside. It wanted to analyses the external world.
And as a result we find that from India have sprung all the analytical sciences, and
from Greece all the sciences of generalization. The Hindu mind went on in its own
direction and produced the most marvelous results”. [1]
The main aim of civic development is material prosperity. Whenever

religion has risen in Europe it had to bear the hammering of the society it was just
the opposite in India. That’s why we get a much wider range of religious thinking in
India as compared to the West.
The journey of the Hinduism is also very peculiar as they found out the
ultimate truth very much early, even before the dawn of civilization. Swami
Vivekananda says, “They found out that in the external world no search would give
an answer to their question. They might seek in the external world for ages, but there
would be no answer to their questions. So they fell back upon this other method; and
according to this, they were taught that these desires of the senses, desires for
ceremonials and externalities have caused a veil to come between themselves and
the truth, and that this cannot be removed by any ceremonial. They had to fall back
on their own minds, and analyses the mind to find the truth in themselves. The
outside world failed and they turned back upon the inside world, and then it became
the real philosophy of the Vedanta; from here the Vedanta philosophy begins. It is
the foundation-stone of Vedanta philosophy. As we go on, we find that all its
inquiries are inside. From the very outset they seemed to declare — look not for the
truth in any religion; it is here in the human soul, the miracle of all miracles in the
human soul, the emporium of all knowledge, the mine of all existence — seek here.
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What is not here cannot be there. And they found out step by step that that which is
external is but a dull reflection at best of that which is inside. Changed the old idea
of God, the Governor Of the universe, who is external to the universe, and first put
Him inside the universe. He is not a God outside, but He is inside; and they took
Him from there into their own hearts. Here He is in the heart of man, the Soul of our
souls, the Reality in us”. [2]
In this case changes appeared in the ritualistic part which is the outer core of the
religion. And when this rituals and social dogmas tried to cover up the central truth
and idea was re-established by some God like mans. As Bhagavan Sri Krishna
Declares in Srimadbhagvatgita–
यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्मवनि र्ारि |अभ्यत्ु थािर्अधर्मस्य िदात्र्ािं सज

ृ ाम्यिर् ||4:7
O scion of the Bharata dynasty, whenever there is a decline invirtue and

increase of vice, then do I manifest myself.
पररत्राणाय साधि
ु ां वविाशयाच दष्ु कृिार् ् |धर्ामस्सस्थाप्िाथमय सम्र्वामर् यग
ु े यग
ु े|| -4:8
For the protection of the pious, the destruction of the evil-doers, and
establishing virtue, I manifest myself in every age.
One continual growth is observed in Hinduism, it is the endeavor of the

Great thinkers to try to explain the Ultimate truths to common masses in their
language. It is thus that the six system of Indian philosophy developed namely –
Nyaya- Vaisheshika, Samkhya-Yoga and Purva and Uttara Mimamsa.
In case of the Europe-- they have been clinging to their World and life
Positive view. And their Religious concept is growing and changing with the change
in their world views. For example when the Catholic Church started to tax upon
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people for going to heaven they developed Protestant religion and omitted the Saint-
Hood and the role of the Mystic and Ascetics from their religion.
EARLY STAGE:
In the early stage of human civilization, when society was hunter-gathered,

then there was a large amount of nature worshipping. The ancient man found
himself helpless and afraid in front of the natural incidents like storms, lightning,
floods etc. and started to pray to them to make them pleased by offering foods,
drinks and animal flesh. It may be the origin of the rituals like animal sacrifice in
fire, or to other Gods. For example we can find a Siberian man’s religious practices
when he prays to the north wind (which is extremely cold) to stop blowing and
promises to offer him his favorite food. In all the ancient religion we get thus, the
trace of nature worship.
The very prominent practice next is fire worship. This may be because of
the fact that all the wild animals are afraid of fire so it was a Savior for the man.
With the invention and controlling of fire, human civilization got a huge lift. The
food culture was changed to cooked food from raw meat. They started to make
earthen pot and burn it in the fire which was long lasting. In reply they showed their
gratitude in form of worship. This fire worship is found in ancient civilization of
Persia and in Hindus and is still found in several form in the present.
Two hypotheses are proposed behind the inception of the God and religion.
The first is Ancestor worshiping and the second, Nature worshiping. The signs of
both these kinds of worship are available in almost all the prevailing religions. From
Pre-historic time men have a feeling that they are bound by their physical body and
weaker than the departed souls who do not have this kind of physical body.
(Indication like Adam eating of forbidden fruit and falling on the earth from the
garden of paradise). Just for example, they can’t cross through an adamantine wall or
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cannot fly in the sky or walk over the water --what they thought their departed
ancestor can do. And their ancestors are like them only and fond of burnt flesh and
liquor, and as in them the idea of morality was not developed, so in the Gods also it
was not developed. In the course of time the hunter-gathered societies changed into
civilizations. In that course two great inventions were made, the invention of wheel
and invention of cultivation. The food habit again got changed and man started
eating cereals as the main food. And these inventions and changes also had its effect
on religions. We can consider the scenario of the Egyptian civilization. In the fertile
land on the banks of Nile, lots of crops were produced, so the Egyptian peasant has
the opportunity to think. Before establishment of those grand civilizations, man has
to spend eighteen hours a day in search of food and shelter for his family, but now
when they have more time they started making different art objects. Then also spare
time was available and he started thinking about some questions like --who is he?
Where did he come from? Who is controlling everything, and so on! Some people
tried to give the answer and in time they became the priests.
Swami Vivekananda in his lecture titled `Necessity of Religion` opined –

Two theories have gained some acceptance amongst modern scholars. One is the
spirit theory of religion, the other the evolution of the idea of the Infinite. One party
maintains that ancestor worship is the beginning of religious ideas; the other, that
religion originates in the personification of the powers of nature. Man wants to keep
up the memory of his dead relatives and thinks they are living even when the body is
dissolved, and he wants to place food for them and, in a certain sense, to worship
them. Out of that came the growth we call religion. Studying the ancient religions of
the Egyptians, Babylonians, Chinese, and many other races in America and
elsewhere, we find very clear traces of this ancestor worship being the beginning of
religion. With the ancient Egyptians, the first idea of the soul was that of a double.
Every human body contained in it another being very similar to it; and when a man
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died, this double went out of the body and yet lived on. But the life of the double
lasted only so long as the dead body remained intact, and that is why we find among
the Egyptians so much solicitude to keep the body uninjured. And that is why they
built those huge pyramids in which they preserved the bodies. For, if any portion of
the external body was hurt, the double would be correspondingly injured. This is
clearly ancestor worship. With the ancient Babylonians we find the same idea of the
double, but with a variation. The double lost all sense of love; it frightened the living
to give it food and drink, and to help it in various ways. It even lost all affection for
its own children and its own wife. Among the ancient Hindus also, we find traces of
this Ancestor worship. Among the Chinese, the basis of their religion may also be
said to be ancestor worship, and it still permeates the length and breadth of that vast
country. In fact, the only religion that can really be said to flourish in China is that of
ancestor worship. Thus it seems, on the one hand, a very good position is made out
for those who hold the theory of ancestor worship as the beginning of religion. On
the other hand, there are scholars who from the ancient Aryan literature show that
religion originated in nature worship. Although in India we find proofs of ancestor
worship everywhere, yet in the oldest records there is no trace of it whatsoever. In
the Rig-Veda Samhitâ, the most ancient record of the Aryan race, we do not find any
trace of it. Modern scholars think, it is the worship of nature that they find there. The
human mind seems to struggle to get a peep behind the scenes. The dawn, the
evening, the hurricane, the stupendous and gigantic forces of nature, its beauties,
these have exercised the human mind, and it aspires to go beyond, to understand
something about them. In the struggle they endow these phenomena with personal
attributes, giving those souls and bodies, sometimes beautiful, sometimes
transcendent. Every attempt ends by these phenomena becoming abstractions
whether personalized or not. So also it is found with the ancient Greeks; their whole
mythology is simply this abstracted nature worship. So also with the ancient
Germans, the Scandinavians, and all the other Aryan races. Thus, on this side, too, a
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very strong case has been made out, that religion has its origin in the personification
of the powers of nature. These two views, though they seem to be contradictory, can
be reconciled on a third basis, which, to my mind, is the real germ of religion, and
that I propose to call the struggle to transcend the limitations of the senses. Either,
man goes to seek for the spirits of his ancestors, the spirits of the dead, that is, he
wants to get a glimpse of what there is after the body is dissolved, or, he desires to
understand the power working behind the stupendous phenomena of nature.
Whichever of these is the case, one thing is certain, that he tries to transcend the
limitations of the senses. He cannot remain satisfied with his senses; he wants to go
beyond them. The explanation need not be mysterious. To me it seems very natural
that the first glimpse of religion should come through dreams. The first idea of
immortality man may well get through dreams. Is that not a most wonderful state?
And we know that children and untutored minds find very little difference between
dreaming and their awakened state. What can be more natural than that they find, as
natural logic, that even during the sleep state when the body is apparently dead, the
mind goes on with all its intricate workings? What wonder that men will at once
come to the conclusion that when this body is dissolved forever, the same working
will go on? This, to my mind, would be a more natural explanation of the
supernatural, and through this dream idea the human mind rises to higher and higher
conceptions. Of course, in time, the vast majority of mankind found out that these
dreams are not verified by their waking states, and that during the dream state it is
not that man has a fresh existence, but simply that he recapitulates the experiences of
the awakened state. [3]
Apart from these theses we shall look through the forms of some of the
ancient religions in next two chapters.
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ANCIENT RELIGIONS OF EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA
Organized religion had its beginnings in ancient Mesopotamia (in what is

now modern Iraq) and Egypt more than five thousand years ago. The religious
systems in these areas blended political with spiritual elements in a type of
government known as a theocracy, or rule by divine guidance. In such a government,
deities (gods and goddesses) are the supreme religious and civic leaders. Their will
is carried out by a priestly class or by a divine king. Mesopotamian theocracies took
the form of city-states ruled by patron gods or goddesses. The god's desires and
wishes were interpreted by political leaders called Ensi and by a priestly class. In
Egypt, religion and the state were also bound together. The national leader, the
pharaoh, was considered a living god and was the vital link between humanity and
the rest of the gods.
A major difference in outlook, however, marked the difference in these two

religions. In Mesopotamia, the forces of nature were more chaotic, more likely to
cause catastrophes, such as disastrous flooding. As a result, the gods were seen as
unpredictable beings of extraordinary power who had to be kept content by priests.
People were at the mercy of the gods, so the job of humanity was to carry out their
will and make them happy. In Egypt, where nature was less destructive, the gods
were seen as kind and generous and generally well-disposed toward humanity.
Both religions were polytheistic, meaning they recognized many gods. These
gods had certain similarities in both traditions. Many gods and goddesses personified
elements of nature. In the Mesopotamian pantheon, or collection of gods, the most
important were the trio of the sky god, an (or Anu); the god of storm and the earth,
Enlil; and the water god, Ea (or Enki). These were followed in importance by a
second triad comprised of the moon god, Nanna (or Sin); the sun god, Utu (or
Shamash); and the goddess of fertility and war, Inanna (also called Ishtar). In the
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later stages of Mesopotamian civilization, the local god Marduk became head of the
pantheon.
Mesopotamian religion.
Mesopotamia, a word made up from two Greek words meaning "between the
rivers," is an ancient name for an area encompassed by the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers. It stretches from the Persian Gulf in the south to the mountains of Armenia in
the north and covers most of modern-day Iraq. Mesopotamia had a much different
climate when it was first settled about eight to ten thousand years ago. The
environment of Mesopotamia largely shaped its religion. Unlike the Nile River in
Egypt, which rises and falls slowly on a very predictable schedule, the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers could and often did rise quickly and violently, causing disastrous
flooding. Because of this, the Mesopotamians felt that nature was dangerous and far
beyond the control of mere humans. The earliest Mesopotamian deities thus
represented different aspects of nature and were honored in hopes of winning their
favor. For instance, Anu, the god of the sky, might have been worshiped to keep
violent storms from damaging the crops. Hursag, the goddess of mountains and
foothills, would be invoked by priests to stop an invasion of barbarian tribes. Deities
were often represented as human beings and some symbolic natural object. Once
given human form, a process called anthropomorphism, the gods were then grouped
in families. Mesopotamian gods were worshiped in temple complexes.
These religions are the basis on which the Abrahamic religions were formed
which gradually transformed into Christianity and Islam.
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RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT INDIA
For well over 1,000 years, sacred stories and heroic epics have made up the
mythology of Hinduism. Hinduism stood for a wide variety of related religious
traditions native to India. Historically, it involved the evolution since the pre-
Christian epoch.
Indus Valley Civilization
The Indus Valley Civilization ensued during the Bronze Age (3300–1300
BCE; mature period 2600–1900 BCE). It mostly spread along the Indus and the
Punjab region, extending into the Ghaggar-Hakra river valley and the Ganga-
Yamuna Doab, surrounding most of what is now Pakistan, the western states of
modern-day India, as well as extending into south-eastern Afghanistan, and the
easternmost part of Baluchistan, Iran. It was widely suggested that the Harappan
people worshiped a Mother goddess symbolizing fertility. A few Indus valley seals
displayed swastika sign which were there in many religions, especially in Indian
religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The earliest evidence for
elements of Hinduism is before and during the early Harappan period. Phallic
symbols close to the Hindu Shiva lingam was located in the Harappan ruins. The
people of the Indus Valley also appear to have worshiped a male god. The most
important depiction of an imagined Hinduism god is seal number 420.
Emergence of the Mitanni Kingdom
In northern Mesopotamia, a great power arose: the Mitanni kingdom.

Whatever we could gather about it is from indirect sources, those people were called
Kharri. Some philologists believed that this term was the same as Arya. The
Mitannian invasion of northern Mesopotamia and the Aryan influx into India
represented two streams of wandering migrations from a common cultural axis.
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In 1906-07 CE at BoghazKeui (about eighty miles to the south east of

Ankara, modern capital of Turkey) Hugo Winkler discovered the great state archive
of the Chatti Empire containing more than 10,000 cuneiform tablets written in
Akkadian cuneiform. One tablet recorded a peace treaty concluded in about 1400
BCE between the Hittite monarch Suppiluliumas and Mattiuaza, king of the Mitanni.
Four gods were called upon as witness to this treaty in the records: In-da-ra, Uru-w-
na, Mi-it-ra and Na-sa-at-ti-ia. These names were nearly identical with the Vedic
gods Indra, Varuna, Mitra and Nasatya. According to the eminent Indologist Paul
Thieme, during the time of the BoghazKeui treaty, these gods were brought into
Iranian mythology. The Avestan scholars affirmed that many Vedic gods were
revived, though they were below the supreme god Ahura Mazda.
Iron Age Vedic Religion
The religion of the Vedic period (also known as Vedism or Vedic

Brahmanism or, in a context of Indian antiquity, simply Brahmanism) was a
historical predecessor of Hinduism. According to traditional views, the hymns of the
Rig-Veda and other Vedic hymns were divinely revealed to the rishis, who were
considered to be seers or "hearers" (shruti meant "what was heard") of the Veda,
rather than "authors". In addition, the Vedas were said to be "apaurashaya", a
Sanskrit word meaning uncreated by man and which further revealed their eternal
non-changing status.
Elements of Vedic religion reached back to a Proto-Indo-Iranian religion and

an earlier Proto-Indo-European religion. The Rig-Veda was counted among the four
canonical sacred texts (śruti) of Hinduism known as the Vedas. Some of its verses
are still recited as Hindu prayers, at religious functions and other occasions, putting
these among the world's oldest religious texts in continued use. The Rig-Veda was
full of several mythological and poetical accounts of the origin of the world, hymns
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praising the gods, and ancient prayers for life, prosperity, etc. The priests performed
the solemn rituals for the noblemen (Kshatriya) and some wealthy merchants
(Vaishyas). They prayed for abundance of children, rain, cattle (wealth), long life
and an afterlife in the heavenly world of the ancestors. This mode of worship has
been preserved even now in Hinduism, though many changes have occurred in the
middle. Other major religions like Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism is made out of
Hinduism only. We shall take a glance through those changes later on.
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BUDDHA, MAHAVIRA AND CONFUCIUS
The sixth century B.C. is considered a wonderful century in history. Great

thinkers like Buddha, Mahavira, Heraclitus, Zoroaster, Confucius and Lao Tse lived
and preached their ideas in this century. And those thoughts have changed the
society and religion to a large extent and their influence is still found in the world.
When China was divided in many tribal peripheries, they were mainly devil
and demi-God worshiper. Then Confucius (551–479 BCE) gave a philosophy, a
religion, which was humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or
simply a way of life. Confucius considered himself a re-transmitter of the values of
the Zhou dynasty golden age. In the Han dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE), Confucian
approaches edged out the "proto-Taoist" Huang-Lao, as the official ideology while
the emperors mixed both with the realist techniques of Legalism. With particular
emphasis on the importance of the family and social harmony, rather than on an
otherworldly source of spiritual values, the core of Confucianism is humanistic.
This-worldly concern of Confucianism rests on the belief that human beings are
fundamentally good, and teachable, improvable, and perfectible through personal
and communal endeavor especially self-cultivation and self-creation. Confucian
thought focuses on the cultivation of virtue and maintenance of ethics. Traditionally,
cultures and countries in the East Asian cultural sphere are strongly influenced by
Confucianism, including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, and
Japan.
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THE INDIAN SENARIO
In about sixth Century BC a socio-economic-political unrest was going-on

throughout the whole of Central India. This period is significant for the
establishment of first universal monarchy. This is the period when the tribes were
getting united under monarchies which in turn were assembling power and fighting
with each other for establishing dominance. The political expansion that was thus
happening was engendered by substantial development and progress of economy.
Magadha was the first ‘universal` monarchy of India and Bimbisara was the first
Indian monarch. The source of power of Magadha was “its rich farm areas” and
“supply of metals”. According to Burjor Avari “iron was the key resource that gave
the Magadha’s supremacy in both agricultural and military technology”.
Role of the means of Production: Extensive changes and advancements were

especially noticeable in agriculture which was the basis of economy. The
development of the instruments of production played the key role in this case. The
use of iron tools initiated this transformation and development in agriculture. The
upgrading of the production system and manufacturing of different kinds of goods
lead to the expansion of trade and commerce. Different historical documents and
contemporary religious texts contain the records of the expansion of trade and
commerce at that time. Jataka stories often mention the traders going to distant
places with hundreds and thousands of caravans. The intensification of agriculture
and spread of trade and commerce led to the urbanization in this period. The cities
were the hub for businessmen, artisans and people of various other professions. This
gradual transformation and amplification of the entire economic system influenced
the existing social system and caused changes in the social structure. The
acceleration of economic production system lead to the breakup of old social classes
and appearance of the new ones such as “the free peasants and farmers”, “merchants
and craftsmen”. The political scenario of the period was based on two distinct
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systems: monarchical and republic (gana-sangha). But a fundamentally significant

change commenced in politics via gradual disappearance of republic states and the
emergence of the monarchical kingdoms. The merchants and the affluent
householders were the key providers of this vast amount of tax. The lands were the
main source of most of this tax. But, although the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas
possessed enormous lands and properties, they did not pay any tax. As a result the
state was deprived of a large amount of tax. In such circumstances, a conflicting
situation between the kings and the Kshatriyas and the Brahmins appeared. So the
existing caste system became an obstacle for the rulers to control the needed
resources. The kings adopted various policies to seize the properties from the
Kshatriyas and the Brahmins. The rigid caste system prevalent in India generated
tensions in the society. Higher classes enjoyed certain privileges which were denied
to the lower classes. Also, the Kshatriyas had resented the domination of the priestly
class. It should also to be noted that both Buddha and Mahavira belonged to
Kshatriya origin. The growth of trade led to the improvement in the economic
conditions of the Vaisyas. As a result, they wanted to enhance their social status but
the orthodox Varna system did not allow this. Therefore, they began to extend
support to Buddhism and Jainism. It was this merchant class that extended the chief
support to these new religions.
Furthermore, the expanding market-type economy comes into conflict with

Brahminist ideology. Due to the expansion of market-type economy and
urbanization, the cities became the epicenter of trade and commerce. For the purpose
of business, merchants had to travel from one city to another, even from one country
to another. So they had to come into daily contact with people of different castes and
with those beyond the frontier. The chautrashrama system of life became no more
practical and the Jagas and Yajnas was found non profitable. The then Vedic religion
drifted heavily from its philosophy of eternal reality and the whole Aryavarta was
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covered with the Yajna Dhuma (Smoke coming out of the sacrificial fire).The class
system of Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and shudra proved to be a failure since it
continued by-birth. Un-touchism comes out as a barrier in trade. Also the vedic
theory of going to heaven by doing sacrifices lost its appeal to the mass and
common people was searching for the answer of the question of life i.e. question of
eternity which the prevalent theory failed to give. Then arose the mighty “Buddha”
the enlightened one (566 BC) with his enormous penance, knowledge and great
compassion to save the mass from all the sorrow to turn them into the right path of
the light.
Several other movements of same kind were also going on, namely Jainism
and Ajibiks. A considerable mass of people followed Tirthankara Mahavira and
became Jain. They are still present in India. Jainism advocates extreme austerity
whereas Buddha instructed for Madhyam Pantha or the middle Path. Both of them
denied the supremacy of the “Veda” .Buddha kept his silence about the factor of
God and stressed on the morality, preached for Ashtangika Marga and also
advocated for “AshtaShila” for personal purification. Afterwards buddhist
philosophers developed the “ShunyaVada” which tells that there is nothing as
eternity and this philosophy later-on evolved the “Idealism” or “VijnanaVada”. All
these system of thoughts were not supporting the Vedic System of Dualism or
monism and the Buddhists were called “Nastika” or unbelievers by the Vaidikas.
Buddhism was one of the pioneer religion which stressed upon preaching
and conversion. In the life time of Buddha himself the sect got support from kings
like Ajatashatru and other rich merchants and grew as the prime religion. In later two
hundred year it spread outside India to China, Simhala, and Malaya, Japan etc. But
this religion also got many changes in time. In the reign of Asoka the Great the 3 rd
council was held (after 236 years of Mahaparinirvana) and proposals were made to
reduce the physical austerity as it was not being possible for the current Bhikshus.
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The most important change came after nearly 600 years, at the 4 th council, during the
time of Kanishka, held at Kashmir. By this time Buddhism had spread to whole
Middle East and beyond the Sea like Simhala and Sri Lanka. An admixture of
people, culture and mentality had happened. And in this council a greater part of
monks proposed to start worshipping the image of Buddha as God because many
were unable to understand the complex philosophy and for the common mass some
kind of ritual was required. This section of Buddhist separated themselves from the
main stream and called them ‘Mahajana Buddhist’. In course of time Buddhism, was
wiped out of India but it is still present in healthy condition outside India like Japan,
Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, Korea etc. Buddhism also has influenced the Vedic
Philosophies. According to many scholars the ‘DukkhaVada’ and ‘Maya vada’ of
Advaita School is because of Buddhist influence only. We get many great Vedic
Scholars who tried hard to get the mass out of the complex and atheist system of
Buddhism and that movement is one of the basis of the present Vedic religion
commonly known as Hinduism.
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CHANGE IN RELIGIONS OF THE WEST: JOURNEY TOWARDS

MONOTHEISM
In the middle age of Civilization there were many Gods as we already

discussed. The situation started changing while various civilizations came into
contact with each other. When it was mainly of tribal character or better off was the
nature of Hunter Gathered Society, the tribes fought against each other and the God
of the winning party became the God of the defeated also. Swami Vivekananda says
“When the Babylonians were divided into many races, they had the generic name of
Baal, just as the Jewish races had different gods with the common name of Moloch;
and at the same time you will find that one of these tribes becomes superior to the
rest, and lays claim to its own king as the king over all. Therefrom it naturally
follows that it also wants to preserve its own god as the god of all the races. Baal-
Marduk, said the Babylonians, was the greatest god;” [4]
But the scenario was changing. The contacts of civilizations were not always
fight. The Medieval period was on its threshold and the relations of civilizations
were being made on the basis of trade and profit. As a result, Polytheism was
prevailing in many of the Civilizations. The ancient religions were largely in the
service of political and economic power. A big economic role was played by the
Church, which was having a large holding in farming, trade and finance. In an Aztec
city of two hundred thousand people, a single temple employed five thousand of
them [5]. In some Mesopotamian cities, a church owned a fourth of the land. When
it can be found in Babylonian records of someone borrowing silver from the
"priests"[6], it is sure that economy and trade shall effect the religious change.
In polytheistic religions many similarity is found. For example in First

millennium BC, Alexander the Great brought much of the known world under his
control and he also extolled the Gods whose land he grabbed. And Alexander's
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native Gods would receive same pragmatic courtesy when Greece found itself on the
other side of the conquest. And we can map the Greek pantheon unto the Roman
pantheon by changing the names – Aphrodite to Venus, Zeus to Jupiter.
In Mesopotamia, in the time of king Hammurabi Marduk became the chief

god and other gods were named after him like Marduk of Rain, Marduk of wind etc.
In Egypt, Amun had grown in power after championing a series of Egyptian military
campaigns. Vast wealth and land holdings flowed to Amun’s Temple. This can be
considered as one of the hallmark of the emergence of monotheism [7]. This kind of
wars of conquest expanded economic and cultural horizons. Egypt's empire wouldn't
last forever and cosmopolitanism would wax and wane. But the inter-cultural
relationship would continue, if fitfully, for it was driven ultimately by technological
evolution. The same advances in transportation and communication that had made
large empires feasible would, combine with advances in manufacture; bringing more
and more peoples into contact with one another. And this contact is reflected in
religious doctrines and moral attitudes. This war campaigns drew diverse lands into
an economic and political whole, and theology and morality expanded accordingly.
Now we should consider the case of ancient Israel because form here the two
major modern religion is developed, those are Christianity and Islam. The God of
Israel was Yahweh. From the first book of kings of Hebrew, Bible, we come to
know about the incident where Prophet Elijah encountered the divine. And here a
much change in concept was found. In primitive polytheism, the forces of nature
may be inhabited by Gods or loosely equated with them. But in the monotheism that
was taking shape in the Middle East, there would be more distance between nature
and divinity. Unlike the Pagan deities, Yahweh was not in any of the forces of nature
but in a realm apart. That may be the reason that in time the civilization was
developed and man was less afraid or dependent on the nature. With Yahweh, there
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were other gods, also but in course of time the Israelites developed their own
monotheism.
There was another factor behind this monotheism. Supernatural pluralism

was an enemy of royal power. If every prophet of every God went around
broadcasting divine decrees, and every clan in Israel consulted the spirit of its most
revered ancestor on policy matters, the king would have trouble staying on the
throne. To consolidate political power, he had to consolidate supernatural power;
among the aims of Yahweh-alonists was "to control the avenues of access to the
divine will"[8].
If we consider concepts which are continually changing or evolving, a leap is

found with the conception of Yahweh as the concept leaves the Lordship of natural
power to more subtle “still small voice” though it was mastery over all the power.
But for all other aspects like morality it was like its predecessors. It was up to the
power of united action for the common good. In Hebrew Bible, many instances and
instruction of annihilation of men of other belief can be found. As the book of
Deuteronomy puts it, ‘As for the towns of these peoples that the Lord God is giving
you as an inheritance, you must not let anything that breaths remain alive. You shall
annihilate them-the Hittites and the Amorites…..” [9]. Many indicate those phrases
as the root of religious intolerance found in all the Abrahamic / Semitic religions.
But if the situation of Israel is studied it is found that for ages it was under the rule
and oppression of other races like Egypt, Sumer and Later Rom. As a deep mental
state of an oppressed nation to be free, that can be achieved by martial / armed
revolution or war against the oppressor only. Even in the modern times the
communist believe that ‘The pipe of the Gun is the source of power behind all social
changes’. So it can be taken as the aspiration of Israelites for freedom. Back to the
morality of Yahweh, it was the mark of cooperation between the members of weaker
race to sustain existence.
Page 21 of 45
JESUS CHRIST AND THE CHRISTIANITY
From the Roman emperor, Augustus, slowly Rome was having maximum of
the known world under its control. With the trade webbed between many civilization
like Rome, Egypt, Greece and Persia the knowledge culture and philosophy was
being exchanged and inside the Roman Empire peace was sustaining and well
established Roman laws were in place which were examples of good administration
in accordance with that time. Romans were following their own religion, including
Cesar worship, meaning uplifting the emperor to the status of God. Clashes became
frequent between the Romans and Israelites regarding Gods and culture -- many
times negotiations took place for the existence of the Israelites [10]. People were not
satisfied with the existing God promising worldly mastery with his undoubted power
though rarely came to help during two thousand years of slavery and oppression.
Another movement was already started within the Israelites whose pioneer we don't
know but one of the early preachers was John the Baptist, a cousin of Jesus or
Joshua (as spelt in Hebrew). A new religion started forming with some basic
difference with existing others. The worldly richness was condemned in view of
going to heaven and poverty was praised. It was preached that slaves also have the
same opportunity to enter the gates of the heaven. This was nothing less than a social
rebellion.
Jesus preached a religion of love and of a loving God along with that of
eternal salvation from sins by entering into the kingdom of heaven. Christianity
brought European thought into relationship with ‘world and life negation’. He did
not assume that the kingdom of heaven would be realized in this natural world. He
expected that this natural world would very speedily come to an end and be
superseded by a supernatural world in which all that is imperfect and evil would be
overcome by the power of God [11]. So a solution to the worldly suffering was
found in this new creed.
Page 22 of 45
In level of morality Christianity provided the essence i.e. sympathy – that

power which enables us to subordinate our own desires to the feelings and the claims
of others. In fact the essence of Christianity is sympathy, deepened and expanded
until it embraces all mankind, including our enemies.
After the crucifixion of Jesus, it took nearly about five hundred years for
Christianity to take a strong hold in the Europe. Paul preached it amongst the slaves
in Eastern Europe, mainly in Greece. The early Christians had to suffer many
persecution and tyranny from the ruling Romans and from the Jews. Shortly after
Domitian, the Emperor Trajan and the Governor of Bithynia-Pontus, Pliny, left a
record of imperial attitude towards Christianity. In this period, Trajan forbade
meetings of secret societies, which would include the Christians. Though Trajan's
reign later indicated a slight shift towards tolerance, there is little doubt that
Christianity created problems for the administration and led to punishment for those
who practiced it. Some Biblical scholar decrypt the story of the Antichrist whose
number was 666 which actually decrypted the Roman Empire Nero [12]. The first
major incident of Christian persecution took place in 64 AD. The fire that ravaged
Rome in that year, and the subsequent building of Nero's golden palace on the
destroyed property was wildly unpopular in Rome. Many placed blame directly on
Nero, accusing him of intentionally lighting the fire, in order to build his palace.
Nero, seeking an unpopular scapegoat, turned the blame on the subversive Christians,
playing on people's fears that their intention was the complete destruction of the
Roman world as they waited for the judgment day.
But the scenario starts changing with the continuous barbarian attacks on a
weaker Roman Empire. Constantine (who ruled from 323-337ad) shifts his capital to
byzantine and named it Constantinople. Constantine, though previously a
worshipper of Sol Invictus, the Sun God, took on the support of Christianity with
some zeal. He declared that his victory was owed to the god of the Christians and set
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about adopting an imperial policy to advance its cause. The emperor in the east,
Licinius maintained an adversarial relationship with Constantine for many years,
which included two short wars for Imperial dominance. Perhaps in order to lure
Constantine into a final battle, Licinius began inciting Pagans against Constantine's
edict which favored Christianity and championed a Pagan cause. By 324 AD, the
conflict and rivalry came to a head. Constantine defeated Licinius in battles at
Adrianople and Chrysopolis, which ended in Licinius' capture and execution. With
Constantine's victory he became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire and likely
feeling more secure in his position, began to advance the Christian cause more
earnestly. New Churches were built in Rome and around the empire, such as the new
basilica church on the Vatican hill, on the place where St. Peter had been martyred.
Besides this the western roman empire was attacked by barbarians like Goths,
Saxons etc. and the last empire of Western Roman emperor, Odoacer, was
decapitated by Goths in 476 AD[13]. The imperial capital Rome was destroyed, its
villas became the incidence of evil smelling hairy barbarians, its schools were
burned, senator-halls broken, and the Greco-Roman culture and heritage was buried
under dust. Everyone was afraid of going back to the primitive age. The only hope
was Christian churches. With love and concept of millennium the meek poor humble
Christian monks approached the people and owned their heart and slowly become
the protector of the civilization. The bishop of the Rome become as powerful as the
emperor and came to be known as the Pope. [14]
In this way another revolution in thinking came. It was the age of

expressions. The old roman days were over, Europe was in now in the middle age
and a flood in thinking came and was reflected in philosophy, art, poetry painting etc.
New universities were established. It was called the Renaissance. A trial was made
to return back to the glory of the Greek and Roman civilization. And it was circling
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around the Christianity and Church. In course of time, nearly one third of the world
population became faithful to Christ.
THE REFORMATION
"The Reformation of the sixteenth century is, next to the introduction of

Christianity, the greatest event in history. It marks the end of the middle Ages and
the beginning of modern times. Starting from religion, it gave, directly or indirectly,
a mighty impulse to every forward movement, and made Protestantism the chief
propelling force in the history of modern civilization"[15]
A new spirit of learning and inquiry was set in motion by the renaissance.
People began to assert themselves against blind faith and useless religious rituals and
began to feel that they could reach God without the intermediary of a priest. Their
reason also made them highly critical of the prevailing practices of sale of
indulgences (pardon certificates), non-enforcement of the code of morality among
the clergy, and undue interference of Papacy in the secular affairs.
In this new age a strong middle class was emerging. This class protested
against the dominance of the old church because it was largely controlled by the
upper classes and administered largely for their benefit. The upper classes looked
down upon the artisans, merchants, lawyers, doctors etc. who constituted the middle
class and were not willing to associate with them. Further, these middle classes
greatly resented the practice of exempting the nobles from taxation, while they had
to bear the brunt of taxation. In short, the middle classes wanted to free the church
from the control of wealthy aristocracy which looked down upon them and cared
very little for their interests. Further, even the princes of Europe were not quite
happy with the Pope who claimed considerable amount of their revenue in the form
of annates and other contributions. The common people were also quite unhappy
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with the clergy which made numerous vexatious demands and hardly gave anything
in return for their money.
Many nation-states were arising and the new monarchies were keen to
establish their absolute rule. A number of monarchs like Henry VIII considered the
presence of a powerful church as a serious check on their authority because it was in
many ways outside the King's authority and the property of the church was
exempted from royal taxation. Further the Bishops still administered justice in
church in accordance with the Canon Law. The flow of enormous amounts of money
from the revenues of the country to the Papal treasury was also disliked by them. No
wonder these kings fully exploited the opportunity offered by the teachings of
Luther, Wycliffe etc. to challenge the authority of the church with a view to
strengthen their own authority in the country. They established Protestant churches
in their country knowing it fully well that the new church would be dependent upon
them and shall be willing to accept their political authority. Thus Protestant churches
were established in many German principalities, in Holland, Denmark, Sweden,
Norway and England.
Though Protestantism had begun as a strictly religious reform movement, the

people behind the new economic forces seized the Reformation and bent it to their
own economic needs. [??] As the modes of production changed, the people
responsible for these changes searched for a state that would legalize what they were
doing and for a religion that would sanctify it. They adopted the Protestant religion
and made it embrace the capitalist state. The two went hand in hand like bride and
groom.” [16]
In the middle Ages, the Church and the worldly authorities were closely
related. Martin Luther separated the religious and the worldly realms in principle
(doctrine of the two kingdoms). The believers were obliged to use reason to govern
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the worldly sphere in an orderly and peaceful way. Luther's doctrine of the
priesthood of all believers upgraded the role of laymen in the church considerably.
The members of a congregation had the right to elect a minister and, if necessary, to
vote for his dismissal (Treatise On the right and authority of a Christian assembly or
congregation to judge all doctrines and to call, install and dismiss teachers, as
testified in Scripture; 1523).Calvin strengthened this basically democratic approach
by including elected laymen (church elders, presbyters) in his representative church
government. The Huguenots added regional synods and a national synod, whose
members were elected by the congregations, to Calvin's system of church self-
government. This system was taken over by the other Reformed churches.
As with the matter of religion, the main concepts stand as -
 The Bible to be the only rule of faith and practice.
 Salvation is located not in the church, an organization, but in the person Jesus
Christ.
 Grace Only (Sola Gratia): The Reformers believed that salvation was caused
totally by God's grace.
 Faith Only (Sola Fide): Faith alone is consistent with God's grace in calling to
salvation.
 God's Glory Only (Soli Deo Gloria): The underlying, foundational doctrine of
the Reformers was that God's glory was the ultimate purpose of all things.
Page 27 of 45
ISLAM:
Still now we were studying the Christian world but in the Semitic people mainly
with the Arabs a new religion was taking shape. They were peaceful shepherds who
roamed through the desert since the beginning of time. Muhammad was a camel-
driver and was born in Mecca. In part of his job he used to travel all over the land of
Arabia and came in touch with Jewish merchant and Christian traders and became
acquainted with their monotheism. In a mystic experience he heard the voice of
Gabriel and formed a new religion named Islam. In this connection, it is important to
note that Islam originated in urban area which was an international Centre of
commerce and finance. A commercial society was emerging from tribal society.
Meccan society was, in fact, half way between tribal and commercial. Thus Islam
imbibed positive qualities of both tribal and commercial society of Mecca. Like
tribal society it took its equality and from commercial society it took its dynamism
as tribal society after all is not dynamic though it is equal. In tribal society there is
not much emphasis on knowledge but in commercial society, knowledge is a must.
Thus we see that equality is a fundamental value in Islam. Unlike feudal society,
there was no concept of any hierarchy among Arabs. The Qur’an, therefore, made
equality as a value and said that only those who are most pious are most honorable
in the sight of Allah. This was very progressive and futuristic value of Islam. Swami
Vivekananda Says in a lecture delivered in the Universalist Church, Pasadena,
California, and 28th January 1900 – “Islam makes its followers all equal — so that,
you see, is the peculiar excellence of Mohammedanism. In many places in the Koran
you find very sensual ideas of life. Never mind. What Mohammedanism comes to
preach to the world is this practical brotherhood of all belonging to their faith. That
is the essential part of the Mohammedan religion;” For the poor, Islam came as a
liberator as its doctrine of equality and human dignity greatly attracted them and for
power elite it became a source of power and riches and these rich broke every
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precept and moral conduct of Islam which enemies of Islam ascribed to Islam. After
its inception, the Arabs listened to Mohammed, mounted their horses and in less
than a century they had pushed to the heart of Europe and proclaimed the glories of
Allah the only God. The prophet promised that those who fell, facing the enemy,
would go directly to heaven. This made sudden death in field preferable to long and
dreary existence upon the earth. It gave the Mohammedans enormous advantage
over their opponent. Later on the mystic part of Islam the Sufism developed.
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BACK TO INDIA: SHANKARA- RAMANUJA
We had left the study of civilization and religions in India after Buddha. In
time of Buddha there were nine (or fourteen) Mahajanapadas or big city states. After
emergence of Buddhism, the idea of Rajachakravarty developed and big empires
took shape. First the Maurya dynasty (325 BC -236 BC). Maurya’s played a
supporting role to Buddhism, in fact Asoka the Great himself took a great part in
spread of Buddhism. At the end of the Maurya dynasty from the North West frontier
intrusions and attacks started by races like Hoons, Shakas and many of them like
Kushanas accepted Buddhism as their own religion but they had brought with them
their tribal demigods, ghosts and secret mystic ritual and those became part of
Buddhism. Thus deformed, was found the emergence of Buddhist Tantra. More
over Buddha had opened the door of renunciation to all, but as everyone was not
qualified for that, these secret rituals became more and more materialistic and lustful.
It can be easily found from the sculptures of the then Buddhist temples. In this
period of political and religious turmoil, Gupta dynasty (240 AD) come to rule India
and it lasted for nearly 200 years. In this time an all-around change and awakening
happened in Literature, Science, art etc. Prominent personalities like Kalidasa,
BarahaMihira, Aryabhatta, Shushruta were doing excellent works in their own fields.
Guptas were Hindus and by their utter support Hinduism again took up the role of
ruling religion. Many of the major puranas were written in this age. But the rational
and intelligent mind was not satisfied with the ritualistic Brahminical form of
Hinduism neither they were fully agreeing with the ShunyaVada or
KshanikaVijnanaVada of Buddhist which was denying the idea of God. Though the
ultimate truths was already declared in the Upanishads, it was kept within the scope
of very few intellectuals and they also were not being able to give answer to the
Buddhist pundits as they had developed their logic since last thousand years.
Page 30 of 45
In this pitiful condition first Mimamshakas came to the rescue. They tried to
reinvigorate the ritualistic part of the Veda under the leadership of Kumarila Bhatta.
But this also was not supporting the ultimate truth of “ekam sat Vipra bahudha
vadanti”. Then came Acharya Shankara Bhagavatpada in 6th century CE. He by his
intellect and knowledge of the Ultimate Truth reestablished the eternal principles of
the Upanishads and inspired people to follow the path of knowledge and
discrimination to get free from the sorrows and bondages of this life. Shankara
interpreted Brahmasutras according to Non-duality or Advaita which admits no other
reality besides the Brahman. He recognized that the doctrine of maya is a logical
conclusion from the Upanishadic View of Being. The highest truth according to him
is that man through knowledge of the identity of his own self with the Brahman,
should experience freedom from the world of the senses in this very life.
In spite of this philosophical work, he reorganized the Hinduism and

concretized some rituals like starting from Panchadevata puja. He travelled the
length and breadth of India and reestablished the Vaidantika Dharma. He also
rescued and re-established many temples. Acharya Shankara was a true Saviour of
Hinduism. The Hindu intellect now got new channels of thinking. The age of
stagnation came to an end with the appearance of Shankaracharya.
After Shankaracharya Ramanuja explained the teachings of Vedanta and

started Vishistadvaita or qualified monism which shifted from shankara’s path of
knowledge and Monism to Bhakti or devotion. It was required as the path of
Shuddhadvaita and renunciation was not fitting all, specially the lower classes, and
the downtrodden, who were deprived of education for ages. Ramanuja with his
broad heart opened the path of godly bliss to them. He also got support from the
Hindu kings of the southern part of India. Following him many bhakti schools, who
are mainly dualist in philosophy, developed in later period.
Page 31 of 45
Swami Vivekananda Says – “In India, Kumârila again brought into currency the
Karma-Mârga, the way of Karma only, and Shankara and Râmânuja firmly re-
established the Eternal Vedic religion, harmonising and balancing in due proportions
Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha. Thus the nation was brought to the way of
regaining its lost life;”
Swami Vivekananda’s view about this age is – “Thus, in spite of the preaching of
mercy to animals, in spite of the sublime ethical religion, in spite of the hairsplitting
discussions about the existence or non-existence of a permanent soul, the whole
building of Buddhism tumbled down piecemeal; and the ruin was simply hideous.
The most hideous ceremonies, the most horrible, the most obscene books that human
hands ever wrote or the human brain ever conceived, the most bestial forms that ever
passed under the name of religion, have all been the creation of degraded Buddhism.
But India has to live, and the spirit of the Lord descended again. He who declared, "I
will come whenever virtue subsides", came again, and this time the manifestation
was in the South, and up rose that young Brahmin of whom it has been declared that
at the age of sixteen he had completed all his writings; the marvelous boy
Shankaracharya arose. He wanted to bring back the Indian world to its pristine purity,
but think of the amount of the task before him. I have told you a few points about the
state of things that existed in India. All these horrors that you are trying to reform
are the outcome of that reign of degradation. The Tartars and the Baluchis and all the
hideous races of mankind came to India and became Buddhists, and assimilated with
us, and brought their national customs, and the whole of our national life became a
huge page of the most horrible and the most bestial customs. That was the
inheritance which that boy got from the Buddhists, and from that time to this, the
whole work in India is a recon quest of this Buddhistic degradation by the Vedanta.
It is still going on, it is not yet finished. Shankara came, a great philosopher, and
showed that the real essence of Buddhism and that of the Vedanta are not very
different, but that the disciples did not understand the Master and have degraded
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themselves, denied the existence of the soul and of God, and have become atheists.
That was what Shankara showed, and all the Buddhists began to come back to the
old religion. But then they had become accustomed to all these forms; what could be
done? Then came the brilliant Râmânuja. Shankara, with his great intellect, I am
afraid, had not as great a heart. Ramanuja's heart was greater. He felt for the
downtrodden, he sympathised with them. He took up the ceremonies, the accretions
that had gathered, made them pure so far as they could be, and instituted new
ceremonies, new methods of worship, for the people who absolutely required them.
At the same time he opened the door to the highest; spiritual worship from the
Brahmin to the Pariah. That was Ramanuja's work. That work rolled on, invaded the
North, was taken up by some great leaders there; but that was much later, during the
Mohammedan rule; and the brightest of these prophets of comparatively modern
times in the North was Chaitanya. You may mark one characteristic since the time of
Ramanuja — the opening of the door of spirituality to everyone. That has been the
watchword of all prophets succeeding Ramanuja, as it had been the watchword of all
the prophets before Shankara. This one great Northern sage, Chaitanya, represented
the mad love of the Gopis. Himself a Brahmin, born of one of the most rationalistic
families of the day, himself a professor of logic fighting and gaining a word-victory
— for, this he had learnt from his childhood as the highest ideal of life and yet
through the mercy of some sage the whole life of that man became changed; he gave
up his fight, his quarrels, his professorship of logic and became one of the greatest
teachers of Bhakti the world has ever known — mad Chaitanya. His Bhakti rolled
over the whole land of Bengal, bringing solace to everyone. His love knew no
bounds. The saint or the sinner, the Hindu or the Mohammedan, the pure or the
impure, the prostitute, the streetwalker — all had a share in his love, all had a share
in his mercy: and even to the present day, although greatly degenerated, as
everything does become in time, his sect is the refuge of the poor, of the
downtrodden, of the outcast, of the weak, of those who have been rejected by all
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society. But at the same time I must remark for truth's sake that we find this: In the
philosophic sects we find wonderful liberalisms. With every Vaishnavite preacher
we find a wonderful liberalism as to the teaching of caste questions, but
exclusiveness as regards religious questions.”
In this period India faced the Muslim intrusion. And Muslim dynasties take
shape which ruled for nearly thousand years. First the Tughlakas, Pathans, Khalji
and lastly, the Mughals. This age is considered as the middle age of Indian
civilization. And in this time Indian culture, its prosperity went to the optima. But
with this prosperity, the world view of the Semitic races which was of the nature of
world-positive and materialistic entered in India and Hindu religion faced great
challenge as Islam was the religion of the empire. Conversions were going on, both
willing and forceful, Persian culture was in practice. Hindu mind was coming in
contact with the teaching of Islam like equality, brotherhood etc. But the philosophy
which affected the concepts of Hinduism was Sufism. It was a mystic practice of
Islam. It was having very near concepts of both Advaitavada and bhakti. In this
period, people from lower classes came in front of religious matters, Bhakti
movement went to its peak and spread to the grass-root level. Saints like Ramdas,
Kaveer, Dadu, Nanaka, Surdas carried the flag of Bhakti in India. In this period
another great bhakti teacher was born named Sri Chaitanya (vide quotation of
Swami Vivekananda). He was having the intellect of Shankara and the heart of
Ramanuja and gave the bhakti movement its optimum strength. Later on, his
followers developed Achintya Bhedavada School. Other Bhakti acharyas like
Madhya, Vallabha also made the body of Bhakti school of thought fully grown. And
with their immense effort the growing speed of Islam was moderated, the common
Hindus got back their strength to hold on to their own belief.
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Page 35 of 45
Ramakrishna-Vivekananda
In the last part of the Mughal age a Revelation was taking shape all over the
world. New worlds were discovered for Europe, like Columbus found Land of
America and Vasco D Gama reached India in 1630, during the reign of Mughal
Empire Jahangir. India came in contact with European Culture and thinking. In
England, Industrial revolution was going on. Science was taking its role in all the
thinking. Rationalism was proposed for material or spiritual fields by philosophers
like Cant, Hegel, Spinoza, Spencer. The East India Company nearly owned the
whole of India. It was only after the Sepoy Mutiny revolution of 1857 that the
English parliament took charge of ruling India. Westernized education system was
established and age old institutions were discouraged. Hindu mind again failed to
co-relate their so called ritualistic Hinduism with the westernized rational thinking.
Indians gradually became convinced that Western ideas were valid.

Relinquishing their previous life goals, which had been based on renunciation and
self-control, they became eager for more material pleasure. Their ancient system of
education and training disappeared, they became atheistic, fond of imitating the west,
and lacking in self-confidence, and a result, and they became as weak as worms.
Indians came to believe that the long cherished belief they had held and practiced
was completely wrong. India’s national identity was on stake. Imitating others and
buffeted by waves of worldly desires, Indians began to drift aimlessly like a boat
without anyone to steer it. [17]
Many attempts were made to survive the old religion, like that by Swami
Dayananda Saraswati and his Arya Samaj who believed in the rituals of Vedas.
Attempts were made to modify Hinduism mixing it with Christianity, as like
Brahmo Samaj, under the leadership of Devendranath Tagore, Keshab Chandra Sen
etc. But they all missed the main nerve of Hindu religion, the ultimate truths of
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Upanishads. Then come Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Swami Vivekananda in his

lecture titled “The Sages of India” said “the time was ripe for one to be born who in
one body would have the brilliant intellect of Shankara and the wonderfully
expansive, infinite heart of Chaitanya; one who would see in every sect the same
spirit working, the same God; one who would see God in every being, one whose
heart would weep for the poor, for the weak, for the outcast, for the downtrodden,
for everyone in this world, inside India or outside India; and at the same time whose
grand brilliant intellect would conceive of such noble thoughts as would harmonies
all conflicting sects, not only in India but outside of India, and bring a marvelous
harmony, the universal religion of head and heart into existence. Such a man was
born, and I had the good fortune to sit at his feet for years. The time was ripe, it was
necessary that such a man should be born, and he came; and the most wonderful part
of it was that his life's work was just near a city which was full of Western thought, a
city which had run mad after these occidental ideas, a city which had become more
Europeanized than any other city in India. There he lived, without any book-learning
whatsoever; this great intellect never learnt even to write his own name, but the
most?? Graduates of our university found in him an intellectual giant. He was a
strange man, this Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. It is a long, long story, and I have
no time to tell anything about him tonight. Let me now only mention the great Shri
Ramakrishna, the fulfilment of the Indian sages, the sage for the time, one whose
teaching is just now, in the present time, most beneficial. And mark the divine power
working behind the man. The son of a poor priest, born in an out-of-the-way village,
unknown and thought of, today is worshipped literally by thousands in Europe and
America, and tomorrow will be worshipped by thousands more. Who knows the
plans of the Lord?”
We shall quote here from the paper of Swami Vivekananda named
`Hinduism and Sri Ramakrishna` –“That the Lord incarnates again and again in
human form for the protection of the Vedas or the true religion, and of Brahmin-
Page 37 of 45
hood or the ministry of that religion — is a doctrine well established in the Puranas
etc.
The waters of a river falling in a cataract acquire greater velocity, the rising
wave after a hollow swells higher; so after every spell of decline, the Aryan society
recovering from all the evils by the merciful dispensation of Providence has risen
the more glorious and powerful — such is the testimony of history. After rising from
every fall, our revived society is expressing more and more its innate eternal
perfection, and so also the omnipresent Lord in each successive incarnation is
manifesting Himself more and more. Again and again has our country fallen into a
swoon, as it were, and again and again has India's Lord, by the manifestation of
Himself, revivified her.
But greater than the present deep dismal night, now almost over, no pall of
darkness had ever before enveloped this holy land of ours. And compared with the
depth of this fall, all previous falls appear like little hoof-marks.
Therefore, before the effulgence of this new awakening' the glory of all past
revivals in her history will pale like stars before the rising sun; and compared with
this mighty manifestation of renewed strength, all the many past epochs of such
restoration will be as child's play. The various constituent ideals of the Religion
Eternal, during its present state of decline, have been lying scattered here and there
for want of competent men to realize them — some being preserved partially among
small sects and some completely lost. But strong in the strength of this new spiritual
renaissance, men, after reorganizing these scattered and disconnected spiritual
ideals, will be able to comprehend and practice them in their own lives and also to
recover from oblivion those that are lost. And as the sure pledge of this glorious
future, the all-merciful Lord has manifested in the present age, as stated above, an
incarnation which in point of completeness in revelation, its synthetic harmonizing
Page 38 of 45
of all ideals, and its promoting of every sphere of spiritual culture, surpasses the
manifestations of all past ages.
So at the very dawn of this momentous epoch, the reconciliation of all

aspects and ideals of religious thought and worship is being proclaimed; this
boundless, all embracing idea had been lying inherent, but so long concealed, in the
Religion Eternal and its scriptures, and now rediscovered, it is being declared to
humanity in a trumpet voice. This epochal new dispensation is the harbinger of great
good to the whole world, especially to India; and the inspirer of this dispensation,
Shri Bhagavan Ramakrishna, is the reformed and remodeled manifestation of all the
past great epoch-makers in religion. [….] He that is wise, let him understand. Of that
power, which at the very first impulse has roused distant echoes from all the four
quarters of the globe, conceive in your mind the manifestation in its fullness; and
discarding all idle misgivings, weaknesses, and the jealousies characteristic of
enslaved peoples, come and help in the turning of this mighty wheel of new
dispensation!”
In the spirit of the Master, Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda laid down the
principle that religion must be a religion of action. He ventured on such axioms as
that the best religion consist in seeing Siva in all human beings and especially in the
poor, and that he alone worships God who helps and serves all living things. That
the pure religion of Veda was this religion was for him a firmly established fact.
Basing his arguments loosely on Bhagvad Gita, which he interpreted in accordance
with the higher ethic he has reached, he taught that the soul can realize its unity with
God by knowledge and self-submergence (Rajayoga) no less than activity in duty
and love (Karmayoga).Vivekananda was an impetuous innovator in the struggle
against what was old, in so far as it was socially injurious. “On other hand, he stood,
like Ramakrishna, for the maintenance of the popular Hindu faith and worship,
Page 39 of 45
because in these the people symbolically possessed and made active the doctrine of
union with the Universal” [18].
Page 40 of 45
RELIGION IN THE MODERN TIME
Since the growth of the scientific knowledge on the latter half of the
nineteenth century, the intellectual horizon has broadened enormously; men have
adventured in new worlds of thought with the same enthusiasm, and with much the
same stimulating results, as the explorers of the Elizabethan age set out to penetrate
unknown countries. Life has become great deal more complex than it used to be.
This, however, is only one of the penalties of a more complicated and shifting
environment. The increase in the means of communication, both of things and of
thought, may bring to each of us a far greater verity of interests and of information
than was general in former ages, but it also obscures the old simple landmarks which
guided our forefathers through life.
The decay of the old faith may not have been accompanied, as is generally
assumed, by agonies of doubt or by sorrow over precious illusions gone forever; it
may even have been like the easing of a great burden. All the same, it was something
lost; it was something systematic and absolute and authoritative. Therefore its
absence, though regretted, must leave a blank in the mind. It has no dogma save this:
that salvation is by knowledge alone. It invites the thinking mind to construct, on the
basis of tested fact and logical inference, a living conception of the world’s history,
of human progress and of the factors which tend to social, moral and intellectual
perfection. It offers no heaven in return for an act of faith; but it holds out the
prospect of a world recreated when men have, by doubting all and learning all,
wrung from nature the mastery of life.
A modern mind demands proof: and he means by proof the same kind of
demonstration as he accepts in his studies and in the ordinary affair of life. Believers
must give reasons for the faith that is in them: and these reasons must be given in the
legal tender of thought, realizable on demand in the authentic coin of fact. To be
Page 41 of 45
acceptable to the modern spirit a creed must, in short, submit to the supremacy of the
scientific method. None of the assertions of religion shall contradict facts or logical
inference of fact and the every transcendental and speculative element shall always
be recognized as such and not mistaken. An “intuition” is never more than an
intuition to him, until he brings it to the test of proof: a hypothesis never becomes a
theory, or a theory law, until it has shown its clear and confirmed connections with
the realm of fact. For him if truth has any meaning at all, it must be universal and
therefore independent of personal predilections. So if an acceptable reconstruction of
religion is at all possible, it must be undertaken on a basis of fact and composed of
elements which are logically connected with fact. More or less the queries relating
religion has come to the following (1) the origin and development of the material
universe; (2) the origin of life; including human life (3) the relation of man to the
universe; (4) the nature of man; (5) the meaning of human existence and (6) the
principles which ought to guide and sustain men in their thoughts, feelings, and
action [19].
So it is needed for any religion to stand strongly on the base of reasoning.

And which religion is more based on reasoning than on the sayings of the prophets is
more attractive to the modern mind. In this situation what Swami Vivekananda
proposes is most near to the actual position.
“All modern religions start with the idea, that man was once pure, he fell,
and will become pure again. I do not see where they get this idea. The seat of
knowledge is the soul; external circumstance simply stimulates the soul; knowledge
is the power of the soul. Century after century it has been manufacturing bodies. The
various forms of incarnation are merely successive chapters of the story of the life of
the soul. We are constantly building our bodies. The whole universe is in a state of
flux, of expansion and contraction, of change. Vedanta holds that the soul never
changes in essence, but it is modified by Maya. Nature is God limited by mind. The
Page 42 of 45
evolution of nature is the modification of the soul. The soul in essence is the same in
all forms of being. Its expression is modified by the body. This unity of soul, this
common substance of humanity, is the basis of ethics and morality. In this sense all
are one, and to hurt one's brother is to hurt one's Self. Love is simply an expression
of this infinite unity. Upon what dualistic system can you explain love?” --- (Report
of a lecture delivered in Oakland on March 8, 1900, with editorial comments of the
Oakland Tribune) [20]
“I fully believe that there are periodic ferments of religion in human society,
and that such a period is now sweeping over the educated world. While each
ferment, moreover, appears broken into various little bubbles, these are all
eventually similar, showing the cause or causes behind them to be the same. That
religious ferment which at present is every day gaining a greater hold over thinking
men, has this characteristic that all the little thought-whirlpools into which it has
broken itself declare one single aim — a vision and a search after the Unity of
Being. On planes physical, ethical, and spiritual, an ever-broadening generalization
— leading up to a concept of Unity Eternal — is in the air; and this being so, all the
movements of the time may be taken to represent, knowingly or unknowingly, the
noblest philosophy of the unity man ever had — the Advaita Vedanta.”—Letter
written to Mr. E. T. Sturdy on 9th August, 1896[21].
“Whether we call it Vedantism or any ism, the truth is that Advaitism is the
last word of religion and thought and the only position from which one can look
upon all religions and sects with love. I believe it is the religion of the future
enlightened humanity. The Hindus may get the credit of arriving at it earlier than
other races, they being an older race than either the Hebrew or the Arab; yet
practical Advaitism, which looks upon and behaves to all mankind as one's own
soul, was never developed among the Hindus universally. Therefore I am firmly
persuaded that without the help of practical Islam, theories of Vedantism, however
Page 43 of 45
fine and wonderful they may be, are entirely valueless to the vast mass of mankind.
We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the Vedas, nor the
Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by harmonizing the Vedas, the Bible
and the Koran. Mankind ought to be taught that religions are but the varied
expressions of THE RELIGION, which is Oneness, so that each may choose that
path that suits him best.”—written to Md Sarfraj Hussain-10 Jun 1898 [22].
He also prophesied the aim of this age as- “Today the ancient Greek is
meeting the ancient Hindu on the soil of India. Thus slowly and silently the leaven
has come; the broadening, the life-giving and the revivalist movement that we see all
around us has been worked out by these forces together. A broader and more
generous conception of life is before us; and although at first we have been deluded
a little and wanted to narrow things down, we are finding out today that these
generous impulses which are at work, these broader conceptions of life, are the
logical interpretation of what is in our ancient books. They are the carrying out, to
the rigorously logical effect, of the primary conceptions of our own ancestors. To
become broad, to go out, to amalgamate, to Universalise, is the end of our aims”
[23].
Page 44 of 45
References
1. `The Work before Us`--Delivered at the Triplicane Literary Society, Madras.

Lectures from Colombo to Almora.
2. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda-Volume 1, Lectures and Discourses,
`Vedic Religious Ideas`
3. Swami Vivekananda, Jnana-Yoga
4. Lectures from Colombo to Almora, Colombo, January, 1897.
5. Bray (1991), p.177-8.
6. Robert Wright, The Evolution of God, p.99
7. Robert Wright, The Evolution of God
8. Patrik D Miller... Religion of ancient Israel ...p. 61.
9. Deuteronomy 18:9-13
10.Robert Wright, The Evolution of God, p.195
11.Indian thought and its development-- by Albert Schweitzer...page 4.
12.Robert Wright, The Evolution of God, p.186
13.Hendrik Willem &Vanloon—the Story of Mankind, p. 119.
14.Hendrik Willem &Vanloon—the Story of Mankind, p.123.
15.Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church
16.Max I. Dimont, Jews, God and History
17.Sri Ramakrishna and his divine play. P.79
18.Albert Schweitzer - Indian Thought and its development, p.221
19.Adam Gowans Whyte – The Religion of the open mind
20.Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda - Volume 8 Complete-Works of Swami
Vivekananda - Volume 8 - Epistles – Fourth Series
21.Complete-Works of Swami Vivekananda - Volume 6 - Epistles – Second Series
22.The Work Before Us - Delivered at the Triplicane Literary Society, Madras,
Complete-Works - Volume 3 - Lectures from Colombo to Almora
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2018

(Br. Sourav (S)) (Sw. Tyagarupananda)

Probationer Training Center,

Early Stage: ............................................................................................................ 5

Ancient Religions of Egypt and Mesopotamia ........................................................ 9

Religions of Ancient India..................................................................................... 11

Buddha, Mahavira and Confucius ........................................................................ 14

The Indian Senario ............................................................................................... 15

Change in religions of the west: Journey towards Monotheism ........................... 19

Jesus Christ and the Christianity .......................................................................... 21

The Reformation .................................................................................................. 25

Back to India: Shankara- Ramanuja ...................................................................... 30

Religion in the modern time ................................................................................ 39

When we start to study the development of human civilization, a very

The main aim of civic development is material prosperity. Whenever

यदा यदा हि धर्मस्य ग्लानिर्मवनि र्ारि |अभ्यत्ु थािर्अधर्मस्य िदात्र्ािं सज

O scion of the Bharata dynasty, whenever there is a decline invirtue and

One continual growth is observed in Hinduism, it is the endeavor of the

In the early stage of human civilization, when society was hunter-gathered,

Swami Vivekananda in his lecture titled `Necessity of Religion` opined –

ANCIENT RELIGIONS OF EGYPT AND MESOPOTAMIA

Organized religion had its beginnings in ancient Mesopotamia (in what is

A major difference in outlook, however, marked the difference in these two

RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT INDIA

Indus Valley Civilization

Emergence of the Mitanni Kingdom

In northern Mesopotamia, a great power arose: the Mitanni kingdom.

In 1906-07 CE at BoghazKeui (about eighty miles to the south east of

Iron Age Vedic Religion

The religion of the Vedic period (also known as Vedism or Vedic

Elements of Vedic religion reached back to a Proto-Indo-Iranian religion and

BUDDHA, MAHAVIRA AND CONFUCIUS

The sixth century B.C. is considered a wonderful century in history. Great

THE INDIAN SENARIO

In about sixth Century BC a socio-economic-political unrest was going-on

Role of the means of Production: Extensive changes and advancements were

systems: monarchical and republic (gana-sangha). But a fundamentally significant

Furthermore, the expanding market-type economy comes into conflict with

CHANGE IN RELIGIONS OF THE WEST: JOURNEY TOWARDS

In the middle age of Civilization there were many Gods as we already

In polytheistic religions many similarity is found. For example in First

In Mesopotamia, in the time of king Hammurabi Marduk became the chief

There was another factor behind this monotheism. Supernatural pluralism

If we consider concepts which are continually changing or evolving, a leap is

JESUS CHRIST AND THE CHRISTIANITY

In level of morality Christianity provided the essence i.e. sympathy – that

In this way another revolution in thinking came. It was the age of

"The Reformation of the sixteenth century is, next to the introduction of

Though Protestantism had begun as a strictly religious reform movement, the

As with the matter of religion, the main concepts stand as -

 The Bible to be the only rule of faith and practice.

BACK TO INDIA: SHANKARA- RAMANUJA

In spite of this philosophical work, he reorganized the Hinduism and

After Shankaracharya Ramanuja explained the teachings of Vedanta and

Indians gradually became convinced that Western ideas were valid.

Upanishads. Then come Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Swami Vivekananda in his

So at the very dawn of this momentous epoch, the reconciliation of all

RELIGION IN THE MODERN TIME

So it is needed for any religion to stand strongly on the base of reasoning.

1. `The Work before Us`--Delivered at the Triplicane Literary Society, Madras.

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